Gandhinagar/Australia, 9^th September 2016: Hon. Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Vijay Rupani received a delegation from Australia led by Her Excellency Harinder Sidhu, Australian High Commissioner to India, in Gandhinagar on Friday. Hon Chief Minister, Australian High Commissioner and the delegation discussed cooperation and collaboration in the areas of education and skill development, ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017. Further discussions around water management experiences and sharing of best practices were discussed during the meeting. Australia, being a partner country for the summit, has shown keen interest in participating in the Global CEO Conclave & Nobel Laureates program during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit.

Earlier, in the month of August, the Govt. of Gujarat had led a delegation to Australia, to conduct roadshows across key cities. The delegation participated in various events including the “Australia-India Women’s Entrepreneurs’ Forum”, interacting with important business leaders.

The delegation also met with officials from Hockey Australia – the governing body for field hockey in Australia. Here, the delegation had expressed the desire to collaborate on multiple fronts including academic collaboration in the areas of Sports Technology, Sports Engineering, Sports Medicine, Sports Management and Sport Sciences.

Further stops for the delegation included top educational institutions and Australia’s key education body, TAFE Directors Australia (TDA). TDA is the national body incorporated to represent Australia’s 58 government-owned Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes and university TAFE divisions, and the Australia-Pacific Technical College (APTC).

The Indian delegation was led by Mr. Pankaj Kumar (I.A.S), Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation, Government of Gujarat. He made a special presentation entitled ‘Destination Gujarat’ during the roadshow. Mr. Kumar had led the delegation in Sept 2014 too, ahead of Vibrant Gujarat 2015. The same resulted in participation of over 250 delegates from Australia in the last edition of the investment summit.

Speaking on Australia – Gujarat relationship, Mr. PK Taneja I.A.S, Additional Chief Secretary, Industries and Mines said, “Australia and Gujarat enjoy a longstanding relationship. Australia was a partner country for Vibrant Gujarat 2015, wherein a large delegation from Australia participated in January 2015. Since then, several bilateral partnerships have been established between Gujarat and Australia which are yielding good results. Government of Gujarat is privileged to have Australia as a partner country again for Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017.”

 Speaking on the roadshow, Mr. Pankaj Kumar, I.A.S, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation said, “I had the honor of leading the Vibrant Gujarat 2017 delegation to Australia from 1 – 5 August 2016. During our visit, we met several senior ministers, government officials, business leaders & reputed educational institutions and we realized that there is an increased interest amongst the Australian community towards India and Gujarat. Gujarat is privileged to have Australia as one of the partner countries for Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017. We are looking forward for this opportunity to establish collaborations between various sector experts and businesses and strengthen relationship between the state of Gujarat and Australia.”

About Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit:

The Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, which started in 2003 to rekindle the pace of investments in the state, has since established itself as the most important business events in the country. Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit is an example of the visionary approach of the Government of Gujarat towards inclusive and sustainable development by ensuring policy coherence and effective investment promotion. Far from the regional investment fair that characterized the first Summit in 2003, the biennial Summit has today become a unique forum for ideation, knowledge sharing, networking, explore business opportunities, sign cooperation agreements and partnerships, while setting the policy agenda to meet some of the current national challenges.

Having successfully organized seven constructive summits, Government of Gujarat, as part of its journey towards sustainable long-term growth and inclusive development is organizing the 8^th edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit from the 10^th to 13^th of January 2017 at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar. The Summit will bring together Heads of States and Governments, Ministers, executives from the corporate world, senior policy makers, heads of international institutions and academia from around the world to further the cause of development and promote cooperation.